Well, not just that, but MS posts the Live activity rankings every week. MW3/BO are usually 1-2 or 1-3 or whatever. Reach is in the bottom half of the top 10, and so is MW2.
Halo is still a really popular franchise but it's obvious that COD is more popular.

It's just more accessible. Halo is harder to be good at and therefore more frustrating for anyone trying it for a first time. While COD is not easy the learning curve is less severe than Halo IMO. I like both but COD gets more of my time.

I liked the Multiplayer of MW3 better and I like the campaign of Halo4 better. When I get Black Ops 2 tomorrow the first thing I do will be to check out multi-player. I might not even touch the campaign. Especially since I'll still need to play Halo 4 campaign so I can get my AMEX credits. No need to waste my time with the Black OPs 2 campaign anyway if I can get paid to do it on Halo4.

I liked the Multiplayer of MW3 better and I like the campaign of Halo4 better. When I get Black Ops 2 tomorrow the first thing I do will be to check out multi-player. I might not even touch the campaign. Especially since I'll still need to play Halo 4 campaign so I can get my AMEX credits. No need to waste my time with the Black OPs 2 campaign anyway if I can get paid to do it on Halo4.

I agree, COD campaign is just plain boring and nothing really makes sense from one game to the next. But I enjoy them for its multiplayer. Halo campaign has been a great experience especially co-op!

I also just finished the campaign. Co-op though. We did it on legendary, a few sections were controlling throwing hard but for the most part I think heroic would of been a little to easy and boring. I did like the story and looking forward to the next halo.

On the multi side, really liking SWAT mode. Kind of wish they made it 6vs6 though.

I think everyone already knows that COD is more popular. But that's different than saying that Halo is a dying franchise like what daniel is ranting about.

Yep, different games. COD is all about spray & pray...............Halo is all about weapons, teamwork, & tactics. The "Halo" types will spend hours discussing the minutae of bloom. I'd wager more folks just want to shoot & have fun w/o the steep learning curve. Halo just takes so much time to be anything other than a "crash test dummy".

To each their own. I enjoy the Halo campaigns for the strategy - where I can take the time to learn the best approach & weapons to get to the checkpoint...............I do not however want to spend a week learning the best weapons/placement for each map in multiplayer.

For those that don't know forge is an excellent tool for learning how maps are laid out and the different spawn locations for respawns and items like vehicles and weapons. Forge mode lets you basically navigate around the map by yourself either in character or via the forge floater thing. It is also handy for dropping down any weapon in the game so that you can try it out and see if you like it, or just to see how it functions.

For those that don't know forge is an excellent tool for learning how maps are laid out and the different spawn locations for respawns and items like vehicles and weapons. Forge mode lets you basically navigate around the map by yourself either in character or via the forge floater thing. It is also handy for dropping down any weapon in the game so that you can try it out and see if you like it, or just to see how it functions.

Yep, different games. COD is all about spray & pray...............Halo is all about weapons, teamwork, & tactics. The "Halo" types will spend hours discussing the minutae of bloom. I'd wager more folks just want to shoot & have fun w/o the steep learning curve. Halo just takes so much time to be anything other than a "crash test dummy".
To each their own. I enjoy the Halo campaigns for the strategy - where I can take the time to learn the best approach & weapons to get to the checkpoint...............I do not however want to spend a week learning the best weapons/placement for each map in multiplayer.

I'm not a savant or anything and I haven't played a Halo game MP in years. I've been playing it recently and doing fairly well, both Reach and 4.

I don't think Halo is more complicated beyond "stick with your teammates and aim for the head." It is slower and you do need to learn weapon placements but it's not like that is hard, you learn it from playing. The learning curve is far less than, for example, Team Fortress 2 or BF3.

I played it all weekend and am a level 25 right now. My very first game of slayer was a negative one, but since then I have been going positive, highlighted yesterday by my 29-10 game. It's weird because people seem to complain about this game being harder that CoD, but I always do way better on Halo games. I do love the fact that there isn't any AI killstreaks in the air gunning at me, which has always been my biggest gripe about the call of duty series after CoD 4.

Onlysublime...
The double xp site is up, and you enter the codes on the site after you register with Pepsi...( I registered years ago for free iTunes, and forgot all about it, so it was easy for me.) After you enter your codes, they have a button to link to your GT, simple as well.
I drink a TON of DEW, but not 12 pack cans or 20 oz bottles, so I really didn't have very many codes. (12 pack cans yield 6 codes, in the inside of the cardboard case...20 oz bottles/orange cap=one code good for your next 3 matches.) I used 2 codes from the 20 oz, and never could tell if I got my xp...There doesn't seem to be anything that denotes it on LIVE while playing. I have a buddy that is using a bunch of them, and he said the other night that he was out of double xp, and needed to enter more codes...not sure how he knew, unless he was counting the matches.

Onlysublime...
The double xp site is up, and you enter the codes on the site after you register with Pepsi...( I registered years ago for free iTunes, and forgot all about it, so it was easy for me.) After you enter your codes, they have a button to link to your GT, simple as well.
I drink a TON of DEW, but not 12 pack cans or 20 oz bottles, so I really didn't have very many codes. (12 pack cans yield 6 codes, in the inside of the cardboard case...20 oz bottles/orange cap=one code good for your next 3 matches.) I used 2 codes from the 20 oz, and never could tell if I got my xp...There doesn't seem to be anything that denotes it on LIVE while playing. I have a buddy that is using a bunch of them, and he said the other night that he was out of double xp, and needed to enter more codes...not sure how he knew, unless he was counting the matches.

At the end of the match it shows you your double XP you earned and it also shows you how many more double XP matches you still have available.

I'm not a savant or anything and I haven't played a Halo game MP in years. I've been playing it recently and doing fairly well, both Reach and 4.
I don't think Halo is more complicated beyond "stick with your teammates and aim for the head." It is slower and you do need to learn weapon placements but it's not like that is hard, you learn it from playing. The learning curve is far less than, for example, Team Fortress 2 or BF3.

Well I wasn't saying it was rocket science just it's different. COD is (IMHO) easier - just spray & pray (any hit is a good hit). But then I'm the odd one - I liked Reach and CE best.

I do like "stick with your teammates & aim for the head" Also be one with the DMR.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nima

Hi,
new to the whole Halo franchise, could someone please point me to a beginners guide? Is there a good summary of the whole story so far?
Looking forward to some multiplayer matches.
Neo

Well that's a long......long story. You can read the entire history here http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page. You can go into Halo Waypoint on xbox & get various details such as weapons, races, and vehicles = a decent overview. There's also a walkthrough of Halo CE Anniversary done by "PaulB0991" on youtube. He's very (as in I don't want to go upagainst him ) good, the walkthrough gives you a good overview of strategy & weapon usage (you can see how he deals with various enemy classes) His youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/PaulB0991?feature=watch

Come on now, Reach was a real full Halo sequel. The only way it wasn't was in chronological story, but in everything else, it was a sequel.
I think Halo's star has faded. I was playing Reach over the past few weeks and while a lot of it annoyed me (loadouts, armor locks, indistinct looking maps), it's still a great MP title. And yea it was never as popular as MW3/BO but I never had a shortage of people to play against.
From the little I've played of Halo 4 MP, it's awesome. I know it won't be as popular as BO2, but I think it will almost definitely be better.

Well if anything Reach is a prequel at best. The numbered games are the only real games in the series to me; the rest are just interesting filler on what's going on around Master Chief (both past and present). This alone makes it a more important game in my eyes. I guess I just see it different. I'll agree though with those that say the CoD games are more accessible. It's just easier to relate to "real life" versus a fantasy setting such as Halo. Of course to me the best game is still Halo 1. I remember those early days playing over XBConnect. Good times.

I'm still only half way through the second episode. Been really busy lately. Miss gaming time.

Do like the Spartan Ops missions but kind of wish they were a little more intense in terms of setup, like MW2 spec ops. I don't mean more intense as just throw a bunch of bad guys at you. I'm not sure how to phrase it (and there's multiple parts to it). Like maybe more co-op interaction, for one thing. Not just a bunch of Spartans clearing out an area of bad guys.

Like the classic example is the spec ops mission where one guy was in the AC130 gunning from afar while the other guy is trying to make it on the ground. Do something like that in Spartan Ops.

I preordered Halo 4 from the Microsoft store which gave me the preorder bonuses of Pulse Armor and a $25 gift card to the microsoft store, and I received those codes shortly after the game arrived.

Well today I got two separate emails telling me that the Armor purchase and the $25 gift card purchase were both cancelled. So I guess I get to spend time trying to figure out what the problem is. It wasn't on my end (already double checked).

Edit- oh and of course...microsoft doesn't have a customer service email address...I have to call...seriously...microsoft in the stone age? Let me go borrow my moms rotary phone so I can call microsoft since they don't use the internet.

just when I thought the Microsoft store was doing great (3 previous preorders went fine), this happens.

and I hate their customer phone support. i don't know what country they're from, they're terrible! the english is understandable to hear (they obviously know how to read the step-by-step procedure manual) but they don't really understand what your English is saying.

I just got those emails too!!!
just when I thought the Microsoft store was doing great (3 previous preorders went fine), this happens.
and I hate their customer phone support. i don't know what country they're from, they're terrible! the english is understandable to hear (they obviously know how to read the step-by-step procedure manual) but they don't really understand what your English is saying.

I also got those emails....Called the customer service number and they said the emails were sent out by mistake. The original codes you received should still work.